Boiler plug



Patented Sept. 9, 1924. r

- 'UNIT-ED STAI 1.50iAngrif1 ES. PATENT-i FREDERICK E. KEY, or sr. LoUIsiIIssoUnI, As'sIGNon To ioIIrgn I IQUIMNT, 1 coMPANmorjEAsrsT. Louis.ILLIrIoIs,l A, CORPORATION or lvtIssoUIu.y .52;

BOIIQ'ER PLUG.

' Application filed April 8,y

To all whom t may emisora."

Be it known that I, FREDERICK E. Knr, a citizen `of the United *States* of America,

land a resident kof the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful `Improvements iny Boiler Plugs, of whichv the following is a full, clear, andv exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

- This invention 'relates to' improvements iny boiler plugs-.the main object being to producel a highly eiicientv means for'formingan absolutely tight seal at the opening to be closed. vAnother. object is-to produce a plug of lthis kind-which. is not liableitobe unseated bythe pressure ini the boiler. -A-

further object is Ito provide lan efficient boiler plug having a number lof .different elements,rall' of ,which can be' very` easily" applied toand removed from a boiler'i'ff With the vforegoing and other objects:` in view, the invention comprises the novel construction, combination and arrangement Vof parts hereinafter .I more specifically described and illustrated inthe accompanyingA drawings wherein is fshown the preferredy embodiment` of the invention.- However, it is to-be understood'that the inventionl oomprehends changes,- variations and'` modifica-v tions which come within the scope lof the claims hereunto appended.

Fig. I isan elevation showing the inner face of a boiler wall andthe inner end of the-plug. Y i

Fig.II is a vertical section; of the elements shown-"in Fig. I.- Y

Fig. III is a detail view suggesting the manner 4in which the spreader canvbe in serted from the outside of the boiler.v

Fig. IV isan enlarged fragmentarysec-5v tion, showingthe inner margin of the seal@ ingmemberas it appears 4before the tight! ening-operation. v y l Fig. V is a viewsimilar to Fig. IV, showing the Linnerfmargin of the sealing member wedgedfbetween converging faces in 'the hole tofbeolosed..A "f

. rd-@Sigma a boiler wail provided with.

f" a taperedhole 2 .adaptedto lbeclosed by my boiler plug. To' illustrate one form of the invention `I have shown -a=plug comprising' a sealing member A, a closure member, a' stud@ extending from the closure member, and av thrust member inthe form of anut 1921. serial m4459194.

D mounted onthe outer end of the studiand adapted tol engage theouter end of the jsealf ing member A. Oppositely'disposed lateral .y

iianges 4, extendingfrom the vclosure'I n'ein f ber B, lie within-the'boiler'fand -engagej'the' innerface of the boilervv'all 1,"as 4 I andII. I The hole 2in" p bly tapered, and the tapered face 3 olf the closure member- B -lies'at angle to the' tapered face vof thehole to Apro-vide'".con. verging vfaces rbetween which the sealing heboileir` wall is preferaa member' A is wedged a'swill be presently described.

i The outer lend'of thesealing memberfAisjj f vengaged bythe v nut D while the annular vinner margin' offthe sealinggmember l.ieslen tirely within the hole 2, vwhere itis inter-v posed betweenandiin'contaot with the con-" verging tapered faces 'o'ffthe hole andthe so' I' I' closure member 3.' By referringV to Fig. II

iti will beseenlthat thenut D *may-be tightened on 'the stud` 5i with"y thel Vresult of forcing the sealing member Atoward" the" boiler `wall'l.I While this'o'ccurs, the inner margin of the sealing member' will be'fi'rrnly wedged between the tapered face Sandthe tapering face ofthe hole.` f '1 The sealing memberA is preferably'made ofA relatively lsoft metal, for example-soft.

steel, and the annular groove is .formed the Inner end face of the' seahngmemb'er so.'

as to p'rovidejyieldable sealing fiange's 5: andtv 5. Thisgroove is preferably Vpshaped to provide walls which' diverge towardv the innerend faces of the sealing memberp- Innghning the, uma man', the een? ing vmember A will' tend to turn with the y nut, and a movement of this kind"`isfunde`f 'sirable, for the 'nut should not imp'artrotar'y" motion" to the sealing memberj j-There'fore'f the tapering faces at-Q,` and 3, may'-.be so' byn` Fig-.f IV, while theflange. is' separate'dil fromthe tapered face 3f', This #will "provide anV initial frictional engagement betweenjthe" vsealing member and the'boiler fwallpwhich;

' friction is increased so as to positively prevent rotation of tlie sealing member relative to the boiler wall.

All of the parts can be applied and i'emoved 4from theV outside of thel boiler. The Hanges-fl on' the closure? member B'will pass through the hole 2 when the members B and C are tilted and properly manipulated Aas suggested by Fig. III, and` allot. the other parts can be very easily applied from the outside ofV the: boiler.. However, the stud. C andclosureniember B must vbe held and'. supported while the members A and Dare being A-applied from' the outside of the boiler. A:- detachableoperating member, orvholding Inembenin the form of ered-6 (Fig. IH.) is screw-edf into-the outerY end of the stud to providean.extendedhand'le over which. the seal-ingl memberA and nutvDmay be passed whenthese members are applied from the:

outsideof the boi-ler.;` To appreciate this feature, it should be understoodV that the closure member B- must be helds'o that' it will not fall.v linto the boilerwhile themembers A. andD are being-removed. Thestud Gis grasped-by vonef hand while. themembers and D are slipped over the erf-.tended liandle.-6,and thereafter, the handle 6 is grasped interlocked with the threadson the. stu-df. The extended handle 3 is lthen.removed fromi the device. The. sealis formed at the inner margin of the sealing member fA,-fand this margin isv subjected to thev boiler pressure, but such rassure cannotidisplacethe sealing memer. Instead ofrrelying-upon frictionA at the inner.' margin of. the sealing member to pre;v vent. displacement-thereof, the sealing ,member ispositive'lyv anchored. as' follows:

Y The flanges 4. on the closure member B cooperate (with. the inner face ofi the boizler wall .'.toI-v prevent voutward displacement of said closure member,and since thev stud Cv is rigidly secured Vtothe closure member B, the nut D will cooperate with the sealing 'mem-. ber Av to prevent outward displacement of thesealing member when the latter is subL jected to the boiler pressure.-

' It isimportantto note that the inner'marginofi the sealing member A. yis firmly wedged. between ,the converging tapered vfaces at. Qrand, and Vthat theyieldable anges 5 and 5 are fifrnf'i'lyl seated 1 onethese convergin facesso as toy form. an absolutely tight and eak-proofvseal.y At thefbeginning` of' thesealing operation,` the seal-ing member A is placed in the position suggested by Fig.

IV, wherein itslyield'able sealing flange 5 en-V gages: the taperedface ofthe hole 2, whilethef..fiange 5 vlies. very elose'tol the tapered face 3 of the closure member B. As the threaded nut is tightened, the yieldable sealing flanges 5 and 5 graduallymove, to thezpositionsshown by Fig.` V. These yield-- able sealing flanges. are'tlius forced toward each other by contact with tlietaperingTv faces in theihole,-a'ndi said flanges' are firmly seated on the converging faces between which they are tightly wedged. The wedging action at these yieldable sealin for any slight depressinsfor irregularities, which are usually found in the face of the hole'or in the tapered outer face 3 of the closureA member B. The yieldable annular fla-nge 5 is contracted by the wedging action 75 solid ina-tter.- In. this event;whentlieflanges 90' tions .of hard solid matter willl` not"'inte'ril 95 fere with the operationfof lwedgiirgthe?v yieldla-ble sealing flanges between the iconverging-tapered faces.` V

claim:

l. Inf a closure for tapered holes, a 'cloi m0 sure vmember adapted tot lie"` in fthetapered hole, saidf closure'. member having' a tapered l outerl face adapted to vlie oppositeftotl-retall? pered wall Vof tlie'holeito befclosedgseaslt" povide converging ftaperiirgffalbes" 105 hole,A a sealing member liavi'ng'llanf A`in`1r margin adapted to lier between'.saidconverge ing tapering faces, saidinlner -margfinl'iatving a groove inl its end 'faces-to proi'fi'de'a contractible outer flange to contact directly-*H0 with the taperedf face 1offthehole and?n anv expansible inner flange contacting (directly with :the Vtapered face offsaid-f closure inem,- ber, and; means whereby f's'ai'd "flairige's';are`

wedged between and'` forced: toward leach` 5 other'on vsaid ,convergiirgffacesf Y 4 2. Ina closure for. tapered holes'g'a closure member adapted to vlie ini the"l tapere'dhdlgf said closure member havinga` tapered face adapted to llie opposite to the ta. wall' of thefhrole to beA elo'sedysefa tpffpiel vide converging tapering face'slin'fthe" hief a sealing member having an inneFni'la-rginf adapted to lieY Within the'kl hole', f 'said finner provide vinner andXV outer? yieldab'le tlangeff adapted to lie'- betweenffand bea'r directly V g 'flanges ycompeiisate's 70 i diverge toward the Binner? 90 the converging tapeiingfffaces pere-d 12"" pansible on the tapered face of said closure member, and means whereby said yieldable flanges are forced toward each other on said convergingV faces, said means including a rotary thrust member whereby the inner margin of said sealingmember is forced into said opening, said outer yieldable flange being primarily engaged with the tapering face of the holey to prevent rotation of the sealing member while the other yieldableY ameter of said tapered portion being small-` er than the diameter of the vtapered hole,

said spreader also having flanges adapted to pass through the hole and engage the inner face of the boiler wall to lprevent outward displacement of the spreader, `the spreader taper being at an angle to the` tapered face of the hole so as to provide oppositely disposed converging faces, an

annular sealing member having its inner marg1n` entirely within the hole to be closed, the outer margin of said sealing member Abeing extended from the wall of the boiler,

said inner margin V'of the annular sealing member havinga V'shaped groovev in its end face providing tapering yieldable annular flangeswhich lie between said converging faces of the hole and Spreader, the reducedv edge of onevof said tapering flanges being` indirect contact withthe tapering face of vthe hole while the reduced edge of the other tapering langeis in direct contact with the tapering face of the spreader, la screwthreaded stud extending outwardly from said spreader, and a nut mountedon said stud and engaging the outer face of-fsaid seall., ing member,the latter being movable intol i the hole in responseto rotation of. the nut so as to force said vyieldable flanges toward each other on said converging faces.

Invtestimony that I claim the foregoing i 'Y `Ihereunto ali'ix my signature.v

FREDERICK E. KEY;r 

